Water Challah With Cinnamon Streusel

My daughter is allergic to eggs, so I have been busy altering much of my baked goods recipe repertoire to make things taste great without those incredible edibles. But the great thing about water challah is that eggs aren't part of the original recipe so you still get a great rise and great crumb without compromising on taste. I altered a plain water challah recipe to make it sweeter, and added a crumb topping to make it more festive.

Ingredients:

3 cups lukewarm water
1 and 1/2 packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 and 1/2 lbs flour (I use a 50/50 mix of all purpose and white whole wheat flour for improved texture and taste) -- to make a bracha on this recipe, use 2 lb 10 oz. flour, which is halachically acceptable and works with this recipe.
1 tbsp plus 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
3-4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract

for topping:

4 tbsp white or white whole wheat flour
4 tbsp white or brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 dash vanilla extract
2 tbsp canola oil (add one tbsp at a time, you might not need all of it, especially if you use brown sugar, which is often quite moist)
1/4 cup oats (optional)

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, add sugar and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine flour, salt and cinnamon. Add oil to yeast mixture and then combine both mixtures. Knead or use bread hook on mixer, and knead for 3-5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly covered oiled bowl and let rise for 1 to 2 hours (or overnight if in the fridge).  Shape dough. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on tops of challahs. Let rise again for 1 hour, or slightly longer if the dough has been refrigerated.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until brown and crusty.

Yield is 2 medium sized challahs plus 6 mini challahs, or 2 large challahs. In order to make enough challah to say the bracha, simply double the recipe!